What is a legal bat?

The definition of a legal bat is governed by Rule 1.10 (in the Little League rulebook). In short, below describes a legal bat for the various divisions:

For Tee-Ball:

  • Marked with the words Tee Ball

For Minors, A, AA, Bazinet, Dauphinais:

  • 2 1/4″ max diameter barrel
  • 33″ max length
  • Bat Performance Factor (BPF) must be no more than 1.15

For Senior:

  • 2 5/8″ max diameter barrel
  • Marked with letters BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) or BBCOR (Ball-Bat Coefficient Of Restitution)
  • Typically legal bats have max drop of minus 3

What about “composite” bats?

Little League International (LLI) imposed a moratorium on composite bats December of 2010 because there is research that shows that after composite barreled bats are broken in, their performance can improve resulting in a compliant BPF 1.15 or BESR bat becoming non-compliant.

Regular metal/alloy bats and bats with just composite handles are not subject to the moratorium and must just meet the other criteria to be legal.

Some composite barreled bats are permitted, but they have to meet the Accelerate Break-In (ABI) test in addition to BESR or BBCOR. Those that have passed the ABI test are on the approved composite bat list published by LLI (see below for links to lists)

Here’s a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list about the composite bat moratorium (http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2010/Sep-Dec/LLBBCompositeBatMoratoriumFAQ.htm)

If you still have any questions about this rule as it applies to Grafton Little League, please contact one of the directors.